Life of Count Rumford. 431 



distinguished among the first, Count Rumford, whose name 

 now resounds through Europe. Yes, without doubt, after the 

 spectacle of a man nobly struggling against adversity, this, of a 

 man of genius incessantly engaged in promoting the welfare of 

 his fellow-men, is the noblest which can be offered to the con- 

 templation of generous souls, and to the imitation of those who, 

 animated by the same spirit, and strong in the same purpose, 

 can be drawn on by the influence of the example to the noble 

 career of benevolence. 



" And if one considers that genius recognizes in the sciences 

 and arts its implements of work, its most energetic resources, 

 one is penetrated by a most profound and just regard for objects 

 of pursuit so fertile in grand results. One realizes the whole 

 truth of this reflection, expressed in a sentiment of the writer 

 just quoted : c In examining,' she says, c the actual state of our 

 enlightenment, we see at a glance that our true riches are the 

 sciences.' This avowal, dropped in a work consecrated to and 

 inspired by an enthusiasm for literature, says a great deal. 

 But the labors of Count Rumford surpass it. He has suc- 

 ceeded in consummating a magnificent enterprise conceived and 

 executed in less than one year. He has aimed to increase the 

 points of contact between the sciences and the arts, to vivify 

 the one by the other, and to apply them together to the needs of 

 humanity and to the perfecting of social blessings. The value 

 of the paper which presents his Proposals and the description of 

 his Institution is doubled by the fact, that in another point of 

 view it may be regarded as an eloquent discourse upon the ad- 

 vantage and the means of making the sciences and the arts re- 

 ciprocally helpful to their own perfection. In this point of 

 view it may claim the attention of all those among our readers 

 who are interested in the progress of this class of human attain- 

 ments. We proceed to translate nearly the whole of it." 



Then follows the substance of the Proposals and 

 Prospectus, translated into French. 



It would have been exceptional to all human experi- 

 ence, alike in the organization and administration of 



